Punctuation – English Grammar Exercises for A2
You and your friends are making a list of who is bringing what for the camping trip. Choose the correct option (A, B, or C) to complete the sentences. Pay close attention to the possessive apostrophe (‘s) to show exactly who owns each item.
1 Anna has a large, waterproof tent. We will sleep in ______ tent.
(A) Anna’s
(B) Annas’
(C) Annas
2 Tom bought a heavy backpack. I will help him carry ______ backpack.
(A) Toms
(B) Tom’s
(C) the backpack of Tom
3 My sister bought a warm sleeping bag. I am going to borrow my ______ sleeping bag.
(A) sisters’
(B) sisters
(C) sister’s
4 The dog needs its food for the weekend. Who is packing the ______ food?
(A) dog’s
(B) dogs
(C) dog of
5 David owns the only camping stove. We will use ______ stove to cook our dinner.
(A) Davids
(B) David’s
(C) Davids’
6 My parents have a large portable cooler for drinks. We are taking my ______ cooler.
(A) parents
(B) parent’s
(C) parents’
7 The children want to bring their bicycles to the lake. We will put the ______ bikes on the car roof.
(A) children’s
(B) childrens’
(C) childrens
8 The women in our group are sharing a large cabin. The ______ cabin is near the water.
(A) womens’
(B) women’s
(C) womens
9 My two brothers share a really nice fishing rod. I want to borrow my ______ fishing rod.
(A) brothers’s
(B) brother’s
(C) brothers’
10 The other campers left some extra firewood. Let’s use the ______ wood for our fire.
(A) campers’
(B) camper’s
(C) campers
11 Our friend gave us his map of the forest. We should look at our ______ map to find the trail.
(A) friends’
(B) friend’s
(C) friends
12 The guys bought a huge watermelon for the trip. We will eat the ______ watermelon after lunch.
(A) guys
(B) guy’s
(C) guys’
13 Mike and Sarah bought a joint camping mat. We will put ______ mat on the floor.
(A) Mike and Sarah’s
(B) Mike’s and Sarah’s
(C) Mike and Sarahs
14 Everyone needs to bring a flashlight. Please check ______ flashlight before it gets dark.
(A) everyones’
(B) everyone’s
(C) everyones
15 James is bringing his acoustic guitar. We will sing around the fire to ______ guitar music.
(A) James
(B) Jame’s
(C) James’s
16 Both Emma and Lisa have their own separate water bottles. Please do not mix up ______ water bottles!
(A) Emma’s and Lisa’s
(B) Emma and Lisa’s
(C) Emmas and Lisas
17 Mr. Jones owns this private campsite. We must strictly follow ______ rules.
(A) Mr. Jone’s
(B) Mr. Jones’s
(C) Mr. Jones
18 Chris has a very good first-aid kit. Please remember to put ______ kit in the trunk.
(A) Chris’es
(B) Chri’s
(C) Chris’s
19 A deer left footprints near our tent. Look at the ______ footprints in the mud!
(A) deer’s
(B) deers’
(C) deers
20 Nobody wants to carry the heavy cooking pots. It is ______ job to carry them yet.
(A) nobodys’
(B) nobody’s
(C) nobodys
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (A)
Explanation: For a singular person (Anna), we add ‘s to show possession. (B) puts the apostrophe after the “s”, which is for regular plural nouns. (C) has no apostrophe, which just makes it a plural word.
2 (B)
Explanation: For a singular noun (Tom), add ‘s. Option (C) (“the backpack of Tom”) is a basic grammar error because it sounds very unnatural in English; we use ‘s for people.
3 (C)
Explanation: “Sister” is singular. The correct form is sister’s. (A) is the plural possessive (if you had two sisters). (B) is just the plural form with no ownership.
4 (A)
Explanation: The dog is singular, so we add ‘s. (C) is an unnatural structure (“dog of”).
5 (B)
Explanation: David is one person. We add ‘s. (C) implies there are multiple people named David sharing the stove, which doesn’t fit the context.
6 (C)
Explanation: “Parents” is a regular plural noun ending in “s”. To show possession, we only add an apostrophe at the very end: parents’. (B) means only one parent owns it.
7 (A)
Explanation: “Children” is an irregular plural noun (it does not end in “s”). Therefore, we treat it like a singular noun and add ‘s -> children’s. (B) is a very common mistake.
8 (B)
Explanation: “Women” is an irregular plural (like children). We add ‘s -> women’s. (A) incorrectly places the apostrophe after the “s”.
9 (C)
Explanation: “Brothers” is a regular plural ending in “s” (two brothers). We just add an apostrophe at the end: brothers’. (B) means only one brother. (A) is a spelling error.
10 (A)
Explanation: “Campers” is plural. We add an apostrophe after the “s” -> campers’. (B) means only one camper left the wood.
11 (B)
Explanation: “Friend” is singular here (“Our friend gave us his map”). So we add ‘s. (A) would be used if multiple friends gave the map.
12 (C)
Explanation: “Guys” is a regular plural ending in “s”. We add the apostrophe at the end -> guys’. (B) means only one guy.
13 (A)
Explanation: When two people own one thing together (joint ownership), we only put the ‘s on the last name -> Mike and Sarah’s. (B) implies they each bought their own separate mats.
14 (B)
Explanation: Indefinite pronouns like “everyone”, “someone”, “nobody” always take a singular ‘s -> everyone’s. (A) is incorrect punctuation.
15 (C)
Explanation: “James” is a singular name that happens to end in “s”. The modern and standard way to show possession is to add ‘s -> James’s. (B) is a major mistake because it cuts his name in half (“Jame”).
16 (A)
Explanation: When two people own separate things (they each have their own bottle), we must put an ‘s on both names -> Emma’s and Lisa’s. (B) implies they share one bottle.
17 (B)
Explanation: Similar to James, “Mr. Jones” is a singular name ending in “s”. Add ‘s -> Mr. Jones’s. (A) misspells his name as “Jone”.
18 (C)
Explanation: “Chris” is singular. Add ‘s -> Chris’s. (B) cuts his name into “Chri”.
19 (A)
Explanation: “Deer” is an irregular noun where the singular and plural are the same word. Whether it’s one deer or five deer, the possessive is formed by adding ‘s -> deer’s. (B) is grammatically incorrect.
20 (B)
Explanation: “Nobody” is an indefinite pronoun. Just like “everyone”, it takes a singular ‘s -> nobody’s. (A) incorrectly treats it as a plural ending in “s”.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Singular Nouns & Names: Always add ‘s to show possession. (e.g., Tom’s backpack, the dog’s food).
- Regular Plural Nouns: If a plural noun already ends in -s (like parents, brothers, campers), just add an apostrophe (‘) at the very end. (e.g., my parents’ cooler).
- Irregular Plural Nouns: If a plural noun does not end in -s (like children, women, men, people), you must add ‘s. (e.g., the children’s bikes).
- Names ending in “s”: For names like James, Chris, or Jones, the most standard rule is to add ‘s. (e.g., James’s guitar). Never remove the “s” from their name!
- Joint vs. Separate Ownership: * If two people share one item, only the last person gets the ‘s (Mike and Sarah’s tent).
- If they have their own separate items, both get the ‘s (Emma’s and Lisa’s water bottles).